


A Good Case of the Third Wheel

by misura



Category: Keeping the Faith (2000)
Genre: Multi, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 19:38:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6579694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They make it work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Good Case of the Third Wheel

None of them were entirely clear on how it happened, after - there was dinner and a movie that Brian maintained wasn't nearly as good as the original, while Jake argued that it hadn't been a remake; it had been a sequel - 

("Excuse me, the rules for what's a good movie and what isn't are different for sequels now?" Brian asked, throwing Anna a look that said, _'Can you believe this guy?'_.)

(" _Yes,_ " Jake said, making a grab for the last bits of popcorn. "Thank you. My point, it is made.")

(Anna beat him to it. "It was okay. And, I mean, that one guy was just smoking hot, right?")

("What?")

\- and it was like back in seventh grade, the world, if not at their feet, then at least mostly known, and friendly, or susceptible to an awesome karate kick right where it hurts.

It didn't feel weird to come back to Anna's apartment for a cup of coffee; it felt like old times, hanging out together pretending to do homework. ( _'I was a teenage shoplifter,'_ Brian thought to himself, spotting the reproduction of a certain watercolor. _'But hey, guess I turned out all right in the end.'_ )

So. Dinner and a movie and coffee.

"It doesn't add up," Brian said. Anna's bed was big and comfortable, and he wondered, idly, if she'd bought it for just this reason, whether she deliberately went shopping for a bed large enough for three.

"But it's okay, right?" Anna asked, from the left of him. "I mean, there's more to life than numbers."

"Yeah," Jake said. "I mean, there's P.V.'s and B.S.C. deals and - "

Anna threw a small pillow at him. Her aim was very good. Brian wondered if she played basketball.

"It's okay," he said. "It's good. It's very good." It was, too.

"Know what would be even better?" Jake asked.

"Hmm. Let me think about that." Anna grinned at Brian, who smiled back. "If we had ice cream?"

"Think less things that are cold, more things that are warm. And naked."

"It _is_ getting a bit chilly, this time of night," Brian said, shrugging off the question in Anna's expression. There was still a world of difference between getting naked and, well, something else. "And, you know, I think none of us can really afford to catch a cold."

"God isn't going to protect you?" Anna grinned.

"God giveth us common sense and friends with very big beds. Seriously, this thing's huge."

"I told her to get something smaller," Jake said. "I mean, what's the point in getting something you're only ever going to use half of, right?"

"Yeah. I can see how _that_ argument worked out for you."

Anna chuckled.

"I'm just lulling her into a false sense of superiority. It's all part of my evil master plan."

"Yeah, sorry to be the one to tell you this, buddy, but it's probably - no, make that _definitely_ real."

"Hush. You'll spoil the surprise."

"Oh, I see what's going on here," Jake said. "Two against one, huh? Is that how we're going to play it now? Think you can scare me? Well, I'm not scared. In fact, I'm just getting warmed up. You ready to get a little down and dirty?"

"He always talks like that in bed. I think it's kind of cute." Anna smirked.

"Well, that's one word for it," Brian replied. "All bark, no bite, huh? And you put up with that?"

"There's a bit of bite, too, sometimes," Anna said. "Not often, but sometimes."

"What can I say, I'm an animal," Jake said, baring his teeth.

Brian rolled his eyes. "Okay, one, I did not need to know that. Two, I _really_ did not need to know that. Three - "

"How many of these things are there going to be?"

"Three, you're stalling and it makes me feel like maybe you're a little embarrassed to show me what's under that shirt all of a sudden," Brian said. "Is that what it is?"

"Boys," Anna said. "Bed, naked, now. You can compare chest hair in the morning."

" _Chest hair_?"

"I don't think - " Brian started, when he realized that there was, in fact, a shirt lying on the floor already, and it wasn't his or Jake's.

"For the record, I didn't mean _naked_ naked," Anna said. "Just get comfortable. That's okay, right?"

"What if I'm most comfortable when I'm _naked_ naked?" Jake asked. "You ever think about that?"

Anna didn't bother turning around. "Not tonight, honey, I've got a headache. Brian?"

He swallowed. "Yeah. That's okay. Like old times, huh? And, I mean, just because I don't - do _that_ , that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a good snuggle. I mean, I guess sometimes it's nice to touch someone and be touched in return, and that can be all it is. Just touching."

"Just touching," she echoed, and then she helped him get his shirt off, and Jake somehow got to the other side of him and he fell asleep sandwiched between the two of them, which definitely wasn't like old times, but then, he supposed, you really couldn't set out to change the world and expect everything to stay the same.

 

("It's just very light," Brian said. "I'm a blonde, in case you hadn't noticed.")

(Jake shook his head. "Nu-uh, nice try, buddy.")

("You're both seriously hot," Anna said. "Can I just put that out there? Now, breakfast?")


End file.
